Phoenix, AZ
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Phoenix ranks 78th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 55th for income. A household earns $90,133 a year while median rent runs $1,819/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 3% above the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is household income (55th of 300), while air quality is the soft spot (299th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 268th and home prices 252nd among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Phoenix, your take-home is worth about $57,894 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it less than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 55th of 300↑32.8%$90,133
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 261st of 300103 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $87,240
- Per-capita income
- $46,168
- Full-time pay
- $49,413
Housing
- Median rent
- 268th of 300↑53.1%$1,819/mo
- Home value
- 252nd of 300↑66%$470,600
- Property tax
- $1,883/yr · 0.4%
- Sales tax
- 8.41%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 129th of 3004.2%
- Bachelor's+
- 111th of 30036.9%
- Avg commute
- 247th of 30027.6 min
People
- Population
- 5,186,958
- Population change
- +4.8%
- Median age
- 38.3 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 14.4%
- Broadband
- 94.6%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 299th of 30086
- Natural-hazard loss
- 178th of 300$14/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 127th of 30017.8%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 13.2%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Affordability
- + Household income
Watch-outs
- – Cost of living
- – Rent
- – Home prices
- – Commute
- – Air quality
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — phoenix ap.
What jobs pay in Phoenix
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $341,680
- IT managers
- $169,720
- Financial managers
- $145,940
- Pharmacists
- $144,490
- Lawyers
- $135,670
- Software developers
- $131,750
- Registered nurses
- $100,830
- General & operations managers
- $98,610
- Civil engineers
- $90,330
- Police officers
- $85,050
- Accountants & auditors
- $80,820
- Web developers
- $76,230
- Plumbers
- $63,750
- Electricians
- $61,210
- Carpenters
- $60,320
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $59,770
- Secondary school teachers
- $59,570
- Elementary school teachers
- $59,180
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $48,930
- Waiters & waitresses
- $47,530
- Construction laborers
- $46,910
- Customer service reps
- $46,410
- Janitors
- $36,280
- Retail salespersons
- $35,960
- Cashiers
- $34,920
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Phoenix metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Arizona are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- California39,999
- Washington13,333
- Texas10,665
- Illinois8,958
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Phoenix
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Phoenix metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Phoenix metro?
- Median gross rent across the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ Metro Area is $1,819 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Phoenix.
- What is the median household income in the Phoenix metro?
- A typical household in the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ Metro Area earns $90,133 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Phoenix expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ Metro Area runs about 3% above the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are higher than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Phoenix metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $87,240 (versus its face value of $90,133). CityLedger rates the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Phoenix metro?
- The median home value across the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ Metro Area is $470,600 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Phoenix metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ Metro Area is 4.2% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).